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Articles by Bill Platt
Athletics Builds Competitors Striving for Excellence in Life
Body When Mike Harrity, the Haldeman Family Director of Athletics and Recreation, recruited one of the top lacrosse coaches in the country from two-time national champion University of Virginia to take over the Dartmouth men’s lacrosse team two years ago, the move turned heads. “People were shocked that we were able to attract someone who was seen as the brightest offensive mind in college men’s lacrosse, and asked, ‘why Dartmouth?’” Harrity says.
Six Montgomery Fellows to Share Their Passions in 2025-26
Body The Montgomery Fellows Program is bringing three renowned choreographers and returning fellow Yo-Yo Ma to campus in the upcoming school year to showcase and celebrate the grand opening of the Hopkins Center for the Arts. In addition, film scholar Vinzenz Hediger returns to teach a full-term class in media and film studies, and Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Annette Gordon-Reed ’81 will lecture and visit with students at the end of the 2026 spring term.
The Rockefeller Center Pairs Students with Alumni Jurists
Body The Nelson A. Rockefeller Center for Public Policy this year launched a Judicial Fellowship Program that is placing 12 undergraduates as fellows with 12 different Dartmouth alumni judges in state and federal courts across the country. The program dates back close to a decade with the advocacy of New Hampshire Supreme Court Associate Justice James Bassett ’78 and also received subsequent support from New Hampshire Chief Justice Gordon MacDonald ’83.
Democracy Fellows Explore How to Bridge the Partisan Divide
Body Associate Professor of Government Sean Westwood brought 10 undergraduates to engage with leaders from across the political spectrum in Washington, D.C., last month. The goal for the students participating in Democracy Fellows: to better understand the day-to-day work of supporting democratic norms and strong institutions during a time of hyperpartisanship.
Trinity Pryor '25 Awarded a Saint Andrew's Scholarship
Body Trinity Pryor ’25, a double major in linguistics and classical languages and literatures, with a minor in education, will pursue an education masters degree at the University of Glasgow next year thanks to a scholarship from the Saint Andrew’s Society of the State of New York.
Policy Research Shop Fuels Public Policy Work in Vt., N.H.
Body For just over 20 years, the Nelson A. Rockefeller Center’s Class of 1964 Policy Research Shop has provided nonpartisan policy research reports to lawmakers, courts, and nonprofits in New Hampshire and Vermont to help inform the creation of data-driven public policy. Students start with the class Public Policy 45: Research Methods, where they learn about qualitative and quantitative research skills.
Three Undergrads Build Bridges Across Differences
Body Working as counselors at a youth camp in Sri Lanka run by Seeds of Peace was a catalyst for three students who developed a “Bridging Divides” proposal, which offers new ideas for promoting dialogue at Dartmouth and beyond.
Three Faculty Members Named 2025 Guggenheim Fellows
Body Three Dartmouth faculty members have been awarded fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. The prestigious fellowships provide support to outstanding scholars and artists in midcareer, allowing them to pursue their work without restriction. Paul Christesen ’88, the William R. Kenan Professor of Ancient Greek History; Carolyn Dever, professor of English and creative writing; and Cecilia Gaposchkin, the Charles A. and Elfriede A.
Series Examines the First 100 Days of Trump's Second Term
Body As President Donald Trump makes rapid-fire changes to nearly every corner of the U.S. government at the start of his second term, the Nelson A. Rockefeller Center for Public Policy and Dartmouth Dialogues will bring prominent speakers from across the political spectrum to campus to discuss the new administration’s first 100 days. The “100 Days Series” will include a look at federalism and state governance on April 17 with former New Hampshire Gov.
Dartmouth Gets Set for NCAA Skiing Championships in March
Body Dartmouth skiing is preparing to take the national stage as the program hosts the NCAA Skiing Championships next month for the first time since 2003. “It’s been 22 years. And while that was a great event, since then, the standards have changed— expectations are higher,” says Cami Thompson, director of skiing and women’s Nordic head coach.
Black Legacy Month Launches With 'Afro-Requiem' Theme
Body The theme of this year’s Black Legacy Month is “Afro-Requiem,” or reclaiming African American culture by showcasing the various ways Blackness is represented through music, food, film, and sports, and culture. A complete list of Black Legacy Month events is offered by the Office of Pluralism and Leadership. The month-long celebration kicked off Feb.
Bright Line Watch Stands Sentry on Democracy
Body Since 2017, Bright Line Watch, co-directed by government professors John Carey and Brendan Nyhan, has been polling political scientists and the public about their views on American democracy, watching for political drift toward the bright line that demarcates anti-democratic political movements. “The idea is to try to identify if and when the U.S. is approaching that sort of a threshold,” Nyhan says, acknowledging that such clear-cut divides do not actually exist in the real world.
Dartmouth Mock Trial Team Takes First at UPenn Tournament
Body The Dartmouth Mock Trial team took first place in the annual Quaker Classic Invitational Tournament at the University of Pennsylvania in late October, beating out 12 other schools in the competition. Team Pegasus of the student-run group, captained by Kavya Nivarthy ’25 and Margaret Bone ’24, took top honors, while the group’s team Orion, captained by Uma Misha ’26 and Bea Burack ’25, earned honorable mention.
Four Club Teams Come Up Big in Postseason Play
Body The fall club teams season wrapped up this month with four teams making it to championship tournaments and two of those finishing in the top spot. Club tennis was 9-0 for the fall season and won the New England Sectional Tournament in October. That qualifies the mixed men’s and women’s team to compete in the national championship in spring 2025. It has been seven years since club tennis has placed in the USTA New England Regionals.
Arctic Institute Hosts Conference on Polar Geopolitics
Body The 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and the Western sanctions that followed have derailed cooperation among the members of the Arctic Council, an intergovernmental body of eight countries with Arctic territories, after 25 years of facilitating climate science, polar diplomacy, and polar marine research.
Dartmouth Hosts Renowned Russian Dissidents
Body Russian writer, historian, and Pulitzer Prize-winner Vladimir Kara-Murza, a former deputy of the opposition People’s Freedom Party, began serving 25 years in prison for treason in April 2022 after denouncing Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. In August, he was released in the largest prisoner swap with the West since World War II, along with 15 other political prisoners that included Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and other Americans, Germans, and Russians.
Felix Davis '26 Develops Microclinics for Rural Ghana
Body Felix Davis ’26 was in medical school in his native Ghana when he learned that the woman who raised him, Mary Dagadu, had stage two breast cancer, a disease that can be effectively treated if caught early. But for Dagadu, and for the nearly 44% of the Ghanaian population living in rural areas, access to basic medical care means traveling long distances, often on foot, leaving family and work behind, and finding the financial means to cover these costs, Davis says.
Dartmouth Co-Hosts Arctic Event at Climate Week NYC
Body Dartmouth partnered with the University of the Arctic and the Finnish consulate in convening an event focused on climate tipping points and the Arctic during Climate Week NYC, an international conference bringing together senior leaders from government, civil society, business, and the climate sector.
Rockefeller Center Director to Launch The Dartmouth Poll
Body Jason Barabas ’93, director of the Nelson A. Rockefeller Center for Public Policy, is launching The Dartmouth Poll in conjunction with his fall course on election polling, seeking to lock-in best practices for polling in New Hampshire. The aim is to complete two polls for public release before the Nov. 5 election, surveying registered New Hampshire voters on their preferences in the races for president, governor, and the state’s two U.S. House seats.
Dedication of Buddy Teevens Stadium Set for Oct. 4
Body Teammates from Eugene F. “Buddy” Teevens ’79 time as a player for the Big Green, student-athletes he coached and their families, fans, friends, and the public are invited to Dartmouth’s dedication of Buddy Teevens Stadium at Memorial Field on Oct. 4. The ceremony is a continuation of the remembrance and celebration of the former Robert L. Blackman Head Football Coach and Ivy League champion quarterback, who died in September 2023 at age 66.
Dartmouth to Host 2024 Election Series
Body Dartmouth will host a 2024 Election Speaker Series leading up to the Nov. 5 election and beyond, bringing in policy leaders, public officials, and analysts from across the political spectrum to discuss the most pressing issues facing American democracy today. Among the speakers in the series, which is sponsored by the Nelson A. Rockefeller Center for Public Policy and the Social Sciences and Dartmouth Dialogues, will be Vice President Mike Pence, who will speak at Dartmouth on Oct.
China LSA Program Returns to Beijing After Five-Year Pause
Body After a five-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of Asian Societies, Cultures, and Languages’ Language Study Abroad program returned to Beijing this summer. Fifteen students took part in 10 weeks of language immersion and cultural studies at Beijing Normal University in China’s capital.
Dartmouth to Host New Hampshire GOP Congressional Forum
Body GOP candidates Bill Hamlen and Lily Tang Williams will participate in a candidates forum at Dartmouth on Monday, Aug. 19, in the race for the Republican nomination for New Hampshire’s 2nd Congressional District. The race is now wide open after the announcement in March by six-term U.S. Rep. Ann McLane Kuster ’78, D-N.H. that she would not seek reelection. The forum, co-hosted by the Nelson A.
Former White House Economics Aide to Speak at Dartmouth
Body Mike Pyle ’00, the former deputy national security advisor for international economics in the Biden administration, will speak on the rise of international economic diplomacy at Dartmouth on Tuesday. The public event, sponsored by the Nelson A. Rockefeller Center for Public Policy and the John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding, will be moderated by Nina Pavcnik, Niehaus Family Professor in International Studies and Professor of Economics.
Dartmouth to Host N.H. Democratic Congressional Debate
Body Colin Van Ostern, Tuck ’09, and Maggie Goodlander, candidates in the Democratic primary to represent New Hampshire’s Second Congressional District, will debate at Dartmouth next week as they vie to replace retiring six-term U.S. Rep. Ann McLane Kuster ’78, D-N.H. The debate, co-hosted by the Nelson A.
Six Olympians With Dartmouth Ties Are Headed to Paris
Body Six athletes with Dartmouth connections—five alums and one current student—are headed to Paris this month to compete in the 2024 Summer Olympics. The Big Green Olympians are vying for medals in men’s and women’s rowing, men’s and women’s rugby sevens, and women’s basketball. Two Dartmouth coaches are also participating. The Paris Olympics begin with an opening ceremony on July 26, and run to Sunday, Aug. 9. The Summer Games will be broadcast live on Peacock and the NBC networks.
Rocky's First-Year Fellows Tune In to D.C. 'Magic'
Body When the first-year fellows at the Rockefeller Center for Public Policy talk about their week of civic skills training in Washington, D.C., this month, the CNN studio is at the top of many highlight lists. “During our CNN visit, we got to see Jake Tapper’s studio and the ‘magic wall’ where election results pour in on election night,” says Will Nelson ’27, a first-year fellow who is interning this summer for Democrats serving on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
New Commissioned Officers Hailed for Commitment to Service
Body Family, friends, and supporters on Saturday joined military officials and CNN anchor Jake Tapper ’91 to witness and celebrate the commissioning of two graduating seniors as Army second lieutenants.
Melissa Reyes '25 Awarded a Beinecke Scholarship
Body Melissa Reyes ’25, a double major in history modified with geography and Latin American, Latino, and Caribbean studies, has been named a Beinecke Scholar—one of 19 college juniors nationally to receive this year’s award.
Washington-Area Programs Open Doors
Body Students, staff, and faculty are enjoying access to high-level policymakers in the Washington area this spring. The third annual Dartmouth International Security Forum in Washington, hosted last week by the John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding and the Henry L.
David Millman '23 Wins a Knight-Hennessy Scholarship
Body David Millman ’23 has been named a Knight-Hennessy Scholar, joining a cohort of 90 top students, the largest to date, from around the world who will receive up to three years of financial support to pursue graduate studies at Stanford University. Millman, a government major who served as student government president at Dartmouth, plans to pursue a JD at Stanford Law School through the program.
Africa Week Celebrations Return Starting May 6
Body Beyond Borders: Towards Pan-African Unity is the theme of this year’s Africa Week celebrations. They start Monday, May 6, with a community discussion at the Institute for Black Intellectual and Cultural Life on “diversity in Blackness” and conclude on Saturday, May 11, with a mock wedding celebrating a diversity of vibrant East and West African traditions.
Society of Fellows Postdoc Wins ACLS Fellowship
Body Tory Jeffay, a media historian and theorist and postdoctoral fellow with the Society of Fellows, has been named a 2024 ACLS Fellow by the American Council of Learned Societies. Jeffay is part of a group of 60 “exceptional early career scholars” selected from 1,100 applicants in a rigorous peer review process, the ACLS announced in a news release. ACLS fellowships provide up to $60,000 to support scholars for six to 12 months of sustained research and writing.
Gavin Fry '25 Wins Truman Scholarship
Body Growing up in rural Arkansas and Missouri, raised by his grandmother in a mobile home, Gavin Fry ’25 came to understand that severe weather affects everyone, but it doesn’t affect everyone equally.
Trump's Candidacy Amid Legal Issues to Be Focus of Forum
Body Former Acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal ’91 and CNN News anchor Jake Tapper ’91 will speak at Dartmouth later this month on how former President Donald Trump’s legal challenges make the 2024 presidential election unique in American history. An Election on Trial: A Conversation with Jake Tapper ’91 and Neal Katyal ’91, co-sponsored by the Nelson A. Rockefeller Center for Public Policy and the Dartmouth Minority Pre-Law Association, is set for 8 p.m. on Thursday, Feb.
Dartmouth Political Union Holds Forum on Israeli-Hamas War
The student-run Dartmouth Political Union hosted four internationally known Mideast scholars and commentators from a broad range of perspectives Thursday night for a forum, “Israel and Palestine: The History and the Conflict.” Introducing the event, Jessica Chiriboga ’24, president of the DPU, acknowledged that discussions involving the Oct.
Black Legacy Month 2024 Celebrates the Black Arts Movement
Body Under the banner “Melanin Mosaic: The Black Rebirth,” Black Legacy Month at Dartmouth this year will highlight the past, present, and future of the Black arts movement through music, literature, and the visual and performing arts. “Black Legacy Month is a time in which the entire community comes together to celebrate and recognize the triumphs, struggles, and excellence of Blackness at Dartmouth,” says Zantasia Johnson, assistant director at the Office of Pluralism and Leadership.
Dartmouth Community Goes to the Polls With Some Flare
Body James Cunningham ’27 made his way to the polls at Hanover High School during lunchtime Tuesday, stopping on his walk back to campus to say he had taken a Republican ballot and voted for former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley. “I was originally a (Ron) DeSantis guy, but after Iowa it seemed like the only viable anti-Trump candidate is Haley,” Cunningham said.
It's Primary Time at Dartmouth
Body Now that the Iowa Republican caucus results are in, with Donald Trump’s landslide victory with over 50% of the vote, the media spotlight has turned to New Hampshire, where across the state, and on campus, the Jan. 23 primary has been the subject of intense interest for more than a year. The driving themes of the moment include whether there a path for Florida Gov.
Honoring the Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Body Dartmouth is honoring the life and legacy of the Rev.
Rockefeller Center Marks 40 Years of Public Policy Work
Body At the dedication of the Nelson A. Rockefeller Center for Public Policy in September 1983, Lady Bird Johnson, the widow of President Lyndon Johnson, said the center would further Rockefeller’s mission to harness public policy to right wrongs and to learn from a wide spectrum of opinions and viewpoints.
Ice Skating Returning to the Green This Winter
Body Ice skating will return to the Green this winter, and the rink will be open to Dartmouth students and employees and—new this year—also to area residents. Facilities Operations and Management has begun work on the 70-foot by 120-foot ice skating rink on the north side of the Green, which will open after the holiday break, contingent on a stretch of freezing weather.
Kissinger Enjoyed Close Ties With Nelson Rockefeller '30
Body Henry Kissinger, who died Wednesday at 100, had a long and complicated foreign policy career that was perhaps most closely associated with the Nixon-era opening of China and the fall of Vietnam, but his work as an adviser early in his career to Nelson Rockefeller ’30 made a lasting impression. The relationship was so strong that Kissinger had planned to deliver an address the evening before the opening of the Nelson A. Rockefeller Center for Public Policy at Dartmouth on Sept.
Rosalynn Carter Recalled as Fierce Mental Health Advocate
Body The marriage of former first lady Rosalynn Carter, who died Sunday at 96, and former president Jimmy Carter evolved over more than 77 years from a stereotypical relationship of the 1950s to the point that she became her husband’s closest adviser and fiercest advocate in all matters of politics, public service, and life, particularly on the issue of mental health, says Carter biographer Randall Balmer, the John Phillips Professor in Religion.
New Ukrainian Language Class Celebrates a Milestone
Body Dartmouth’s first-ever Ukrainian language and culture class finished the fall term last week with a presentation of poems, stories, and songs in the Ukrainian language and in translation. The works were shared by Dartmouth students and their student collaborators from Ternopil National Technical University, who participated via Zoom from Ternopil in western Ukraine.
Party Chairs Stand Together for N.H. Primary
Body New Hampshire Democratic Party Chair Ray Buckley and Republican Chair Chris Ager teamed up at Dartmouth last week to defend the first-in-the nation presidential primary, which has been threatened on the Democratic side this cycle by the Democratic National Committee’s attempt to move South Carolina into the lead position. At a Rocky Talk forum at the Nelson A. Rockefeller Center for Public Policy on Nov.
Dartmouth Hall, Irving, ECSC Recognized by Architects
Body The renovation of the iconic Dartmouth Hall has been recognized by the New Hampshire chapter of the American Institute of Architects with the 2023 Monahan Preservation Honor Award as an exemplary historic preservation project. NH AIA also announced merit awards for Excellence in Architectural Design for Commercial/Institutional projects to the new Class of 1982 Engineering and Computer Science Center and the Arthur L. Irving Institute for Energy and Society on the West End of campus.
Jewish Studies and Middle Eastern Studies to Hold Forums
Body Faculty with the Jewish Studies and Middle Eastern Studies programs have set up two public events to discuss the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas, the militant group that rules the Palestinian Gaza Strip.
Intercultural Engagement Conference to Focus on Storytelling
Body The inaugural Intercultural Engagement Conference at Dartmouth on Oct. 13 and 14 has stories to tell. Lots of them. “Every culture has a story. Every community has a story. Every person has a story,” says La-Tarri Canty, associate dean for community life and inclusivity.
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